Arsenal’s Premier League troubles intensified as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home by lowly Burnley on Sunday with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring an own goal after Granit Xhaka was sent off.
The Gunners, who have now lost four straight home games, are in 15th place in the standings with 13 points while Burnley climb out of the bottom three moving up to 17th place on nine points after their first away win of the season.
Mikel Arteta’s side were enjoying a spell of strong pressure after the interval, testing Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope, when Xhaka was sent off after a VAR review spotted him grabbing Burnley’s Ashley Westwood by the throat.
Westwood created the decisive goal when his dangerous in-swinging corner was headed into his own goal by Aubameyang as he rose to challenge Josh Brownhill at the near post.
In Sunday’s other late kick-off, James Maddison capped a fine individual performance with two goals to help Leicester City beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 at home and maintain their good start to the season.
Jamie Vardy added another as Leicester moved up to third on 24 points from 12 matches, one behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur and second-placed champions Liverpool, while Brighton stayed 16th on 10 points from 12 games.
Maddison fired Brighton into a 27th-minute lead when he steered a low shot into the bottom corner from inside the penalty area as he picked up a loose ball after the visitors failed to clear the danger.
Vardy, who hit the post barely a minute before Maddison’s opener, doubled the home side’s lead with a typical predatory finish from close range after James Justin delivered an inch-perfect low cross from the right.
Maddison made it 3-0 with an individual goal of the highest quality in the 44th minute, teeing himself up with some neat footwork before he curled a delightful shot past keeper Mathew Ryan from 16 metres.
The visitors, who went close twice through Danny Welbeck and Alireza Jahanbakhsh before they fell behind, offered little up front after the break and only a pair of good saves by Ryan denied Leicester a bigger win.
REUTERS